Oh! Zuzanna: Former $8,000 claimer upsets Red Carpet Handicap

DEL MAR, Calif. – In all his years in broadcasting, most recently at TVG, Kurt Hoover has picked plenty of winners and told plenty of stories, most of them true. But no winner will top - and no story will be better - than the one that came true on Saturday.

Zuzanna, a mare Hoover and some friends claimed for $8,000 14 months ago, pulled off a 23-1 upset in the Grade 3, $100,702 Red Carpet Handicap for turf females at Del Mar.

“I’m speechless, which my friends will tell you is pretty rare,” Hoover said in a post-race interview with his TVG colleague Britney Eurton.

Zuzanna, who paid $48 as the longest shot in the field of seven, was sixth for the first seven furlongs of the 1 3/8-mile grass race. She began to advance heading into the far turn, moved past favored Keeper Ofthe Stars while between rivals early on the far turn, set after the leaders heading into the lane for the final time, and pulled away for a 1 1/2-length victory under Paco Lopez, who was winning his second stakes on the card.

Zuzanna crossed the wire 1 1/2 lengths in front of 17-1 shot Curlin’s Journey, who rallied from last to claim second in a three-way photo for the place. Vibrance was a head behind Curlin’s Journey in third third, a nose better than Strike At Dawn.

Tiny Tiny, Keeper Ofthe Stars, and Lostintranzlation, the early pacesetter, completed the field. Siberian Iris, the morning-line favorite, was scratched Saturday morning. Trainer Richard Mandella said she was stiff and theorized she had tied up.

Zuzanna completed 11 furlongs on a turf course rated good in 2:16.29.

When Zuzanna was first claimed in September 2018, the decision was made to give her plenty of time to recover from various ailments. She came back to the races in March at Golden Gate, in a claiming race in which she was ineligible to be claimed since she had been off for more than six months. She won that day, then won for $25,000 at Santa Anita in her next start. She hasn’t raced for a tag since.

Her biggest win for her current connections came in a starter allowance at Santa Anita in June. She had lost four straight since then, and never had run in a stakes, let alone a graded race. But with the prospective field coming up soft for the Red Carpet, Hoover convinced his partners to at least nominate and take a look.

Hoover had no delusions about winning the race, but upon arrival at Del Mar on Saturday learned that Siberian Iris had been scratched, and figured that gave Zuzanna a better chance of at least finishing in the money and earning some black type. They did better than that.

“Did I hear wow? Wow!” trainer Bob Hess Jr. said when entering the winner’s circle.

Hoover said all the credit for Zuzanna’s development was due Hess, who took the long view on how to proceed with a horse claimed for $8,000.

“He got her right, took the time,” Hoover said.

Hoover and Hess had been friends for more than 30 years. Brian Ferguson – affectionately known as “Ferg” – a friend of Hoover’s since seventh grade, is a co-owner of Zuzanna, as is a longtime client of Hess’s, Jeff Lambert, as well as Larry Rodriguez and Robert Toland.

Hess said what made the win special was “doing it with friends.”

Zuzanna, a 5-year-old mare by Wilburn, has now won nine times in 32 starts, and she is 3 for 5 on Del Mar’s turf. She is 4 for 9 for her current connections, for whom she earned $60,000 on Saturday, bringing her bankroll this year to $143,851, all since being claimed for $8,000.